Pre-Service Special Educators’ Understandings of Relational Competence

Research demonstrates that the teacher-student relationship is essential for students with special educational needs. This article investigates how pre-service special educators (n = 74) perceive teachers’ relational competence, as manifested in their relations with students exhibiting behavioral di...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jonas Aspelin, Daniel Östlund, Anders Jönsson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2021.678793/full
Description
Summary:Research demonstrates that the teacher-student relationship is essential for students with special educational needs. This article investigates how pre-service special educators (n = 74) perceive teachers’ relational competence, as manifested in their relations with students exhibiting behavioral difficulties. The data comprises educators’ written analyses of teacher-student interactions simulated through digital video, both before and after being provided with explicit criteria on teachers’ relational competence. The findings reveal a change in the educators’ perceptions as they shift from a focus on teaching strategies and the learning environment toward an awareness of teacher-student interaction, and from the teacher’s management of problematic student behavior toward an acknowledgment of the communicative and socio-emotional challenges in contexts involving students with different needs.
ISSN:2504-284X